For the intergovernmental organization in Pakistan, see COMSATS.
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COMSAT Corporation was created by the Communications Satellite Act of 1962 and incorporated as a publicly traded company on February 1, 1963.[1] The primary goal of COMSAT was to serve as a public, federally funded corporation intended to develop a commercial and international satellite communication system press. Although the corporation was government regulated, it was equally owned by some major communications corporations and independent investors.[2] COMSAT began operations with its headquarters in Washington, D.C., in 1962, with a six-person founding board of directors appointed by President John F. Kennedy, including: Phil Graham who served as Chairman (until his resignation in January 1963);[3] Leo D. Welch, Joseph V. Charyk, David M. Kennedy, George Killion, Leonard H. Marks, and Bruce Sundlun.[4]
In August 1964, COMSAT helped create the International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium (INTELSAT), an international satellite organization with the goal of global satellite coverage that today has 143 member countries and signatories. COMSAT was responsible for the launching of the Early Birdcommunications satellite, on 6 April 1965.
To further satellite technology, in September 1969, COMSAT opened COMSAT Laboratories, a research and development arm, in Clarksburg, Maryland. The founding director of COMSAT Labs was Bill Pritchard from 1969 to 1973. He was followed by Burton Edelson, director from 1973 to 1982. Director from 1982 to 1995 Dr. John V. Evans, Dr. Ramesh K. Gupta, director from 1995 to 2000.
Following many open inquiries into ongoing disagreements with major broadcasting companies and COMSAT, the FCC created the Open Skies Policy in June 1972.[5] This policy authorized the use of satellites for domestic broadcast use and encouraged competition between different systems.[6] In 1976, COMSAT deployed Marisat, three geosynchronous satellite systems providing mobile services to the United States Navy and other maritime customers, and Comstar, a domestic satellite system. To separate these activities from its INTELSAT business as required by the Federal Communications Commission, a subsidiary company named Comsat General was formed. In 1982, the Marisat satellites, along with three Marisat Earth stations (two in the US — Southbury, Connecticut, and Santa Paula, California — and one in Japan) formed the initial operating system for the International Maritime Satellite Organization (INMARSAT).
COMSAT provided 2-way communication via geostationary satellite for a number of cruise ships in Caribbean and other offshore applications. The ship on-board system included antenna stabilized with 3-axis gimbals, beacon signal receiver and an active control system to search and lock the antenna on the satellite during the ship maneuvers and severe waves. The system called Startrack was developed by the Canadian company Techwest Data Systems. In 1995, the system was acquired by the UK Marine Data Systems for their floating rigs operations in the North Sea and in 1996 manufacturing moved to Aberdeen, Scotland.
Between 1998 and 2000, COMSAT merged with Lockheed Martin Corp. in a US$2.7 billion merger, to become an element of the subsidiary Lockeed Martin Global Telecommunications (LMGT).[7] COMSAT's ticker symbol CQ was removed from the New York Stock Exchange on 2 August 2000.[8]
During the two year approval process, Comsat shareholders lost about US$300 million in purchase value because of a drop in Lockheed Martin stock as the two companies struggled through complex congressional and regulatory hurdles.[citation needed]
With the integration of COMSAT, LMGT became the U.S. owner, and the largest shareholder, in both the INTELSAT and INMARSAT systems. INMARSAT was fully privatized on April 15, 1999. Comsat serves as the U.S. Signatory to INTELSAT, and will continue in that role until INTELSAT's expected privatization in 2001 at which point it will become a shareholder.[citation needed]
On 27 March 2001, LMGT announced the sale of the COMSAT mobile communications unit, which had been aligned with the satellite services business, to Telenor of Norway for US$116.5 million. This sale was completed on 11 January 2002, and included COMSAT mobile's two Earth station facilities, one in Southbury, Connecticut, and one in Santa Paula, California.
Viasat, Inc. acquired COMSAT Laboratories from Lockheed Martin in 2001.[9]
On 7 December 2001, Lockheed Martin announced plans to exit its Global Telecommunications services business, disbanding the wholly owned LMGT subsidiary and immediately implementing actions to reassign certain of LMGT's businesses and investments to other operating segments of Lockheed Martin, sell the remaining operations, position investments for monetization, and eliminate the LMGT administrative structure. The COMSAT General telecommunications unit was realigned with the Space Systems business area.[10]
COMSAT International Holdings (CIH), formerly known as World Data Consortium, acquired an 81% of COMSAT International (formerly Enterprise Solutions-International, a provider of network services to the South American corporate market) from Lockheed Martin Corporation in the 2nd quarter of 2002.[11]
On 11 May 2004, Lockheed Martin announced that Intelsat, Ltd. would acquire Lockheed Martin's COMSAT General business for US$90 million. At that time COMSAT General provided satellite-centric telecommunications services and equipment, concentrating on international fixed and mobile satellite systems.[12]
In the 2nd quarter of 2007, BT Group of the United Kingdom announced the acquisition of COMSAT International from CIH,[13] and Lockheed Martin announced the sale of its remaining 20% interest in COMSAT International.[11]
COMSAT operated the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association from 1989 to 2000 , and added to its sports portfolio by purchasing the Quebec Nordiques in 1995 and moving them to Denver as the Colorado Avalanche. The Nuggets' purchase was one of professional sports' first attempts to introduce African-Americans into ownership groups (it included Peter Bynoe, a Chicago lawyer, and business partner Bertram Lee, who held a combined 37.5% interest). COMSAT bought out its other shareholders in 1992.
After buying the Avalanche, COMSAT organized its Denver sports franchises under a separate subsidiary, Ascent Entertainment Group Inc., which went public in 1995, with COMSAT retaining an 80% controlling interest and the other 20% available on NASDAQ.[14] The franchises took convincingly different directions in terms of on-court/ice production: the Nuggets were perennially among the worst teams in the NBA (bottoming out with an 11-71 record in 1997–98), while the Avalanche won a Stanley Cup in their first season in Colorado (1996) and five consecutive division trophies under Ascent's watch. In addition, COMSAT/Ascent were responsible for the construction of the Pepsi Center (which opened in 1999) where the two franchises play today, and costs began to put a drain on business.
In 1997, COMSAT agreed in principle to sell Ascent to Liberty Media.[14] However, Liberty was not interested in sports ownership at the time (though it has since bought Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves), and made the deal contingent upon Ascent selling the Avalanche and Nuggets.[15]
After almost two years, Ascent sold the Avalanche and Nuggets to Walmart heirs Bill and Nancy Laurie for US$400 million. However, a group of Ascent shareholders sued, claiming that the sale price was several million dollars too low. Ascent then agreed to sell the Avalanche and Nuggets to Denver banking tycoon Donald Sturm for US$461 million.[16]
However, the deal unraveled when the city of Denver insisted that Sturm promise to keep the Nuggets and Avalanche in Denver for at least 25 years before it transferred the parcel of land on which Pepsi Center stood. Sturm had bought the teams in his own name, and city officials wanted to protect taxpayers in case Sturm either died or sold the teams before the 25 years ran out. While Sturm was willing to make a long-term commitment to the city, he wasn't willing to be held responsible if he died or sold the teams. After negotiations fell apart, Liberty bought all of Ascent, but kept the Nuggets and Avalanche on the market.[17] Finally, in July 2000, the Avalanche, Nuggets and Pepsi Center were finally bought by real estate entrepreneur Stan Kroenke in a US$450 million deal.[14] Kroenke is the brother-in-law of the Lauries; his wife Ann Walton Kroenke is Nancy Laurie's sister. Liberty retained only a 6.5% stake of the sports franchises. As part of the deal, Kroenke placed the teams into a trust that would ensure the teams will stay in Denver until at least 2025.[17] After the deal, Kroenke organized his sports assets under Kroenke Sports Enterprises.
Telecommunications in France are highly developed. France is served by an extensive system of automatic telephone exchanges connected by modern networks of fiber-optic cable, coaxial cable, microwave radio relay, and a domestic satellite system; cellular telephone service is widely available, expanding rapidly, and includes roaming service to foreign countries.
Intelsat S.A. is a multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States. Originally formed as International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, from 1964 to 2001, it was an intergovernmental consortium owning and managing a constellation of communications satellites providing international telecommunications and broadcast services.
Telecommunications is one of the most modern, diverse and fast-growing sectors in the economy of Ukraine. Unlike country's dominating export industries, the telecommunications, as well as the related Internet sector, remain largely unaffected by the global economic crisis, ranking high in European and global rankings.
The International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO) is the intergovernmental organization that oversees certain public satellite safety and security communication services provided via the Inmarsat satellites. Some of these services concern:
There are a number of systems of communication in Uganda, including a system of telephony, radio and television broadcasts, internet, mail, and several newspapers. The use of phones and the internet in Uganda has rapidly increased in the last few years.
The Colorado Avalanche are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play their home games at Ball Arena, which they share with the NBA's Denver Nuggets and Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League.
The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the Denver Larks in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association (ABA), but changed their name to Rockets before the first season. The Rockets then changed their name again to the Nuggets in 1974. After the name change, the Nuggets played for the final ABA Championship title in 1976, losing to the New York Nets.
Satellite Business Systems (SBS) was a company founded by IBM, Aetna, COMSAT, that provided private professional satellite communications through its SBS fleet of FSS geosynchronous satellites, and was the first company to do so.
ACeS was a regional satellite telecommunications company based in Jakarta, Indonesia. It offered GSM-like satellite telephony services to Asian market. The coverage area included Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, China and India. The company operated the Garuda 1 satellite, launched on February 12, 2000. A second satellite was planned but never materialized. ACeS was formed by a joint venture of PT. Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN), Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunication (LMGT), Jasmine International Overseas Ltd of Thailand and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT). ACeS services were marketed by National Service Providers (NSPs) in six countries; PT. Pasifik Satelit Nusantara in Indonesia, ACeS Regional Services in Thailand, Smart ACeS in the Philippines, TMTouch/Celcom in Malaysia, AVCO in Nepal and Mobitel in Sri Lanka.
Enos Stanley Kroenke is an American billionaire businessman. He is the owner of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which is the holding company of Arsenal F.C. of the Premier League and Arsenal W.F.C. of the WSL, the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL, Denver Nuggets of the NBA, Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer, Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League, the Los Angeles Gladiators of the Overwatch League, and the Los Angeles Guerrillas of the Call of Duty League.
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) is an American sports and entertainment holding company based in Denver, Colorado. Originally known as Kroenke Sports Enterprises, it was started in 1999 by businessman Stan Kroenke to be the parent company of his sports holdings. Today, the company has control of over five professional sport franchises, and one association football club that has two teams Arsenal F.C. and Arsenal W.F.C., four stadiums, two professional esports franchised teams, four television channels, an internet TV channel, & 19 magazines which operate under the badge Outdoor Sportsman Group, four radio stations which operate under the badge KSE Radio Ventures, LLC, and websites.
Inmarsat is a British satellite telecommunications company, offering global mobile services. It provides telephone and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate with ground stations through fourteen geostationary telecommunications satellites. Inmarsat's network provides communications services to a range of governments, aid agencies, media outlets and businesses with a need to communicate in remote regions or where there is no reliable terrestrial network. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Connect Bidco, a consortium consisting of Apax Partners, Warburg Pincus, the CPP Investment Board and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, in December 2019.
COMSAT Mobile Communications (CMC), a telecommunications company which provides global mobile communications solutions to the maritime, land mobile and aeronautical communities, and offers data, voice, fax, telex and video capabilities via the Inmarsat geosynchronous satellite constellation through two earth station facilities in Southbury, Connecticut, and Santa Paula, California. CMC was a business unit of COMSAT Corporation of Bethesda, MD (delisted).
This article concerns the systems of telecommunications in Denmark. Denmark has a highly developed and efficient telephone network, and has a number of radio and television broadcast stations.
Marisat satellites were the first maritime telecommunications satellites and were designed to provide dependable telecommunications for commercial shipping and the U.S. Navy from stable geosynchronous orbital locations over the three major ocean regions. The three Marisat satellites, F1, F2, and F3, were built by Hughes Aircraft Corporation (HAC) for COMSAT Corporation starting in 1973. The satellites were designed to provide maritime telecommunications services in three large ocean areas, the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Indian Ocean, and were located at 72.5° East longitude, 176.5° E, and 345° E in the geosynchronous orbital arc. The three-satellite Marisat system served as the initial INMARSAT constellation.
Robert D. Briskman is Technical Executive of Sirius XM Radio.
Vizada is a worldwide satellite communications service provider which operates earth ground stations that connect satellite communications to terrestrial telecommunications and IP networks. Vizada provides both mobile and fixed satellite telecommunications to a wide array of markets including merchant shipping, defense and government, fishing and yachting, oil and gas, mining, and non-governmental organizations. The product offering covers maritime, land, and aeronautical services. In 2011, the Vizada Group was acquired by EADS, to be integrated as a subsidiary of Astrium.
Josh Kroenke is an American heir to the Walmart family inheritance and to Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, his father's sports-media conglomerate. He is involved in running the Denver Nuggets basketball franchise, the Colorado Avalanche ice hockey franchise, the Colorado Rapids, and English football club Arsenal. The company co-owns Elitch Gardens Theme Park as well.
ABS, formerly Asia Broadcast Satellite, is a global satellite operator incorporated in Bermuda. Operating 5 communication satellites, the satellite fleet currently covers 93% of the world's population including the Americas, Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States.
Philippine Communications Satellite Corporation (PHILCOMSAT) is a telecommunications company based in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. Its main teleport is in the province of Rizal.
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